May 1, 1973 – KIIS – Dave Diamond – Rob Frankel Collection –
It’s May 1973. The world has gone a little insane – there’s Watergate – there’s The Pentagon Papers – there’s a gas shortage – there’s two more years of high school. If you thought about it for more than 30 seconds you’d be in the pit of despair or at least contemplating staying in bed for the rest of your life. The 60s are over. The 70s are strange – you’re right in the middle of it and it all seems kind of silly. No, it’s a LOT silly – you have proof.
Your parents say you’re in denial and they sometimes look at you like you’re going to explode. Maybe you are, but you probably won’t. You haven’t exploded yet and you’ve had plenty of opportunities to, ever since you learned how to walk. Nope – life is going from one batch of silly to another and you’re just here for the ride.
You’ve gotten it in your head that the world is The Great Cosmic Joke and that somewhere in all of this is the punchline; the “ah-ha moment” when the curtain pulls back and it’s a room full of monkeys. You’re waiting for the monkeys; you know they’re there.
Your homeroom teacher says you’ll grow out of it – it’s a phase and giddy doesn’t last long. He should know – he was in the Korean war.
It’s not just you though – most of your friends feel the same way. You all get together at lunch and sit on the wall at the quadrangle, and stare at people, shaking your heads.
Sure, maybe you’ll grow out of it – but the world is so crazy, why would you want to?
And while life trudges seriously on, there’s your radio to consider. And on this particular May in 1973 it’s KIIS-AM with Dave Diamond complete with Nixon News, Daniel Ellsberg news and May Day in Moscow. Doesn’t get much better than that.
